Distilling apparatus for coal



July 23, 1935. H. s. REED ETAL DIS'IILLING APPARATUS FOR COAL Filed May 16, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l deMh RC E m m m N a 0 m n T, N 0 I IN /A m M 0Q e v, 5

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s. REED ET AL 2,009,122 DiSTILLING APPARATUS FOR COAL Jul 23, 1935.

Filed May 16, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5 Hap/"y 6. Head Ea/p/r 0. Aamie ATTORNEYS 2331 Qviy 1935. H. s. REED ET AL 2, r

DISTILLING APPARATUS FOR COAL Filed May 16, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet a Patented July 23, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,009,122 DISTILLING APPARATUS FOR COAL Harry S. Reed, East Lansing, and Ralph D.

Lamie, Detroit, Mich. 7

Application May 16, 1930, Serial No. 452,879 fiClaims. (01.202418) This invention relates to an improved retort and apparatus for lowtemperature coal distillation and treatment.

The objects of the'inve'ntion are:

First, to' provide an improved tumbling barrel retort with improved screen partitions therein.

I Second, toprovide such an improved tumbling barrel retort with means for distributing the load to secure even operation of the retort.

'Ihird, to provide such a retort with an improved packing for the bearings.

Fourth,'to provicle improved gas sealing means at the delivery end of the'retort where powdered- Iuelis delivered. l

Firth, to provide improved gas ofi-takc for such a retort.

Sixth, to provide improved discharge means 'for the solids from such a retort. v

Objects pertaining to details and'economies will appear from the detailed description to follow. WA preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated "in the accompanying drawings, in

which: I T Fig. 1 is an'elevation ViBW of our improved retort apparatus, portions ofthe furnace casing and oithe retort being'broken away and shown on'vertical central section to Show details of construction.

Fig. 2. is an enlarged. detail vertical section taken on line 2-2' of Fig. 4 through the retort shown in broken sections, showing the coal inlet and gas take-oh connection and details of the powdered fuel discharge. j V

Fig. 3 is the enlarged detail in vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 5, of the coalintake hopper and the gas off-take; chamber and bearing for the drum. w

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on theirregularline 4-4 of Figs. 1 and -2, showing details ofthe powdered fuel discharge dipper and; other details. i 1

5 is an enlarged detail vertical section on line 5-5 of Figs. land 3, showing details of the gas off-take chamber with its baffles and of the corrugated flexible plate support of thebearing.

Fig. 6 is a detail transverse sectional view on line 6-45 of Fig. 1, showing the end view of the revolving retort drum with the partitions omitted, showing the circumferential; position of the tumbling barrel flights.

Fig. '7 is a detail view showing the angular and spherical tumbl ng bodies or elements made use of in this behalf.

V I'he parts will be identified by their numerals of reference whichare the same in all the views;

I is a concrete base, with a center pedestal 2. supporting a pivot bearing 3. 4 is the general frame whichv is pivoted on the bearing 3 and is adjustable by the adjusting bolts 5., 5 to any in,- clination desired or required.

. 6 is a gas furnace substantially cylindrical in form and supported on the frame 4, the; details of. the burnersbei'ng omitted. l is the tumbling barrel retort drum disposed longitudinally through the gas furnace and revolvable therein. 16

The retort Iv is provided with flanged heads 8 and!) which constitute the rims on which the tumbling barrel retort 1 revolves. The rims are disposed and supported on pairsof rollers 8i, 9| at each end. The rollers are carried by cross F5 beam supports 82, 92, on the frame 4, see Fig. l; The rim 9 at the discharge end is provided. with thrust roller bearings H), N, see Figs. 1 and 2, which embrace the rim 5 and retain the same in proper position for support on the rollers 9!. The drum 1 is divided into compartments by transverse partitions H each of which has a flat'pe' ripheral portion which is notched at the edgelas seen in Fig. 1, within which flat portions is a portion like the segment of a cone suitably perforated and then a fiat central portion at right angles to the axis of the drum. These partitions are a tight fit in the drum except for the" notches and are provided with a central tubular support H which is welded or otherwise secured to the said partitions H and adds to the rigidity of the drum. A flat partition 12 with notched periphery separates the retort discharge chamber or compartment 12 from the rest of the drum.

The drum 1 is provided with a head l3 at the intake end which carries the sprocket wheel H for driving the drum and a central tubular journal shaft l5 for the coal intake and the gas discharge. The discharge end is provided with a head 16 which carries the .tubular discharge journal shaft I! for the discharge of the solid powdered fuel. 7 l

The drum is provided with spirally disposed angular projecting flights 13 which are disposed in stepped relation within each compartment or division of the drum and in-continuousstepped relation to each other; They vare disposed in pairs exactly opposite each other, the end arrangement of these flights clearly appearing in Fig. 6 where the drum cross partitions H have been omitted.

Within the'drum are placed a quantity of angular grinding elements and ballgrinding elements as seen in Fig; '7, preierablyof 1 chilled cast iron, these being preferably of graded size in the different compartments. According to practice, about one-third of the weight of these grinding elements are ball shaped elements. These give mobility to the tumbling mass and insure the proper action of both the scraping elements and the ball elements as well.

The powdered fuel is discharged from the chamber I2 by the volute dipper 38, a port I13 being cut in the tubular journal I! to receive the powdered fuel as this volute dipper revolves. The tubular discharge journal I! is provided with integral spiral conveyor I'M.

A pipe 3| is provided at the discharge end e tending up centrally through the tubular journal shaft I! to deliver steam or gas into the drum for flushing out the volatile products as soon as they have been liberated by the heat.

I8 is the feed hopper for the coal. I9 is the off-take chamber for the gas provided with baffies I9I and discharging through the gas off-take pipe I92. The tubular intake journal I5 conne'cts to the gas chamber IS. A spiral conveyor 20 receives the coal from the hopper I8 and conducts it through the central feed tube 2| into the retort, see Figs. 2 and 3.

His the discharge chamber for the powdered fuel and the tubular journal I! delivers the powdered fuel through the side wall into the same.

The powdered fuel passes the star valve 23 which seals the outlet practically gas tight and the powdered fuel is finally discharged through the U-passage 24 by the revolving paddle wheel 25, see Fig. 1.

The tubular journals at both ends are provided with substantially identical expansion bearing joints,-the description of one of which will be suflicient for both. Only one will be numbered, which is the one appearing at the discharge end. The journal I! is provided with a flanged collar ITI secured thereto by suitable cap screws I12, see Fig. 2. A circular disk 22! forms the side wall to the discharge chamber 22 and the same is pro vided with concentric corrugations 222. In the center of this disk is the opening for the passage of the end of the hollow discharge journal I I. A bearing plate 223 is secured by cap screws 224 to the center of this corrugated disk. It is provided with a true bearing surface on the outside to correspond to the bearing surface on the flange I'II. Between this bearing surface and the flange is disposed a graphite packing ring 26. A ring plate 21 surrounds the flange collar III and the same is forced yieldingly towards the plate 223 by the spring clamp bolts 225. Plates 223 and 21 have downwardly projecting supports 22S and 2'", respectively, which rest upon the slides 28, which permit slight reciprocation of the parts under expansion. A bearing ring 212 and ball bearing 213 are between plate 21 and flange III. The bearings at the opposite end of the drum travel back and forth on a shelf 29 as seen in Fig. 1.

From this description it will be readily understood that coal is introduced through the hopper I8 and is carried into the retort by the conveyor 20 through the tube 2|. The coal drops into the first chamber of the retort and is immediately tumbled by the tumbling barrel so that the round and angular grinding bodies immediately act upon it, breaking some of it to fine powder and the remainder to comparatively coarse lumps.

The fine powder, due to the inclination ofthe drum, advances readily along the periphery and the coarser pieces tumble through the central screen into the next compartment where there are smaller grinding bodies which reduce these coarse pieces to a considerable extent and pass them to the next compartment and so on through, until at the final compartment they are passed through the notches in the periphery of the disk I2 into the retort discharge chamber I2.

In this chamber I 2, all of the powdered fuel is gathered and accumulated by the volute dipper blade 30 and dropped into thetubular discharge journal shaft II where it will be conveyed on to the discharge chamber 22 by the spiral I14.

As the fuel is advancing, of course, it is being distilled and volatiles are being driven off. A current of steam or gas is introduced through the pipe 3I which quickly flushes the distilled gas and vapor into the off-take chamber I9 where the same are quickly cooled and passed on through the oiI-take pipe I92 to scrubbers and purifiers usually provided for such a purpose. Of course, the raw gas could be passed directly to a boiler and furnace and be burned. A part of it is preferably so utilized for running the gas furnace surrounding the drum.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

-1. In a distilling apparatus for coal, the combination of a sealed tumbling barrel ball mill retort having a sealed discharge outlet, means for heating the exterior of said retort, transverse partitions disposed across the tumbling barrel in the said retort dividing the same into compartments each partition consisting of a flat peripheral portion, and bulging perforated screen portion projecting toward the discharge outlet, and flights in stepped relation in each compartment-of the retort and in continuous stepped relation therethrough.

2. In a. distilling apparatus for coal, the combination of a sealed tumbling barrel ball mill retort, means for heating the exterior of said retort, transverse perforated partitions disposed across the tumbling barrel in the said retort dividing the same into compartments, opposed flights in stepped relation in each compartment of the retort and in continuous stepped relation therethrough, and angular and ball tumbling grinding bodies within the said retort.

'3. In a distilling apparatus for coal, the combination of a sealed tumbling barrel ball mill retort, means for heating the exterior 'of said retort, transverse perforated partitions disposed across the tumbling barrel in the said retort dividing the same into compartments, opposed flights in stepped relation in the retort and in continuous stepped relation therethrough, and angular and ball tumbling grinding bodies within the said retort.

4. In a distilling apparatus for coal, the combination of a sealed tumbling barrel ball mill retort having a sealed discharge outlet, means for heating the exterior of said retort, opposed flights in stepped relation in the retort and in continuous stepped relation therethrough, and angular and ball tumbling grinding bodies within the said retort.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a barrel retort having a circular head and means for mounting said retort for rotation on its axis including an axially disposed tubular bearing support, a chamber in proximity to'said retort having a side wall comprising a concentrically corrugated circular plate open at its center for said tubular projection, a bearing flange having face bearings carried by said tubular projection, a corresponding bearing plate carried by the center of said'corrugated plate,

packing means interposed between said bearing plate and said bearing flange, and a bearing ring carried by said corrugated plate having means for holding the same yieldingly against said-bearing flange.

' 6. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a barrel retort having a circular head and means for mounting said retort for rotation on its axis including an axially disposed tubular bearing support, a chamber in proximity to said retort having a side wall comprising a concentrically corrugated circular plate open at its center for said tubular projection, a bearing flange having face bearings carried by said tubular projection, a corresponding bearing plate carried by the center of said corrugated plate, and a bearing ring carried by said corrugated plate having means for holding the same yieldingly against said bearing flange.

HARRY S. REED. RALPH D. LAMIE. 

